


Love, Pain & Retrospect

by aestaeticism



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha!Chanyeol, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, But I swear just a hint of it, Don't expect a graphic omegaverse this is not it, Fluff, It's not chanbaek Non-con, M/M, Mentions of Bullism and school violence, Mobbing in a workplace, Omega!Baekhyun, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Slice of Life, Workers chanbaek, and ex classmates, discrimination against omegas, don't let it stop you because I swear it won't traumatize you, office environment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-14 03:11:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestaeticism/pseuds/aestaeticism
Summary: Baekhyun thinks things would go smoother, when he snatches an internship interview for JC Corp.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The omegaverse fic I've always wanted to write and never got to actually do it. Today I was inspired and this is what my mind put on paper. It's shamelessly unbetaed and the tags -- guys I swear the tags are NOT as bad as they seem, but I don't want fandom to drag me so there they are for you to be warned about every single little thing that could trigger you.
> 
> It's gonna be a pretty light love story with an omegaverse setting in an office environment. Don't expect buckets of angst and pls don't expect babies. I hate babies. Chanbaek are pretty cute, at least in the future chapters I've thought about. Jongdae is the best character in this fic I swear (but when is he not the best character in my fics?)
> 
> I was listening to [ this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t4qnH8tpd4) song while writing, and I feel like the future chapters will fit this mood as well. 
> 
> This being said idk, don't be too harsh in the comments and well, enjoy!

 

_Talking_

_Why's everyone always talking_

_Noise in my head but it's nonsense_

_I can't feel nothing_

 

Baekhyun brings his wrist close to his nose, as he put his weight on the railing of the escalator and looks up, to the second floor of the building. Beneath the light smell of laundry detergent coming from his shirt and what was left of the fragrance of his body shower, the scent of pheromones is still almost imperceptible and yet easy to catch for him. Any omega would know what their pheromones smell like, and Baekhyun likes to catch his heat before he can start feeling the first symptoms of it.

It’s a perfectly trained, automatic gesture to search for the blister of pills in his pocket, pop one out of the aluminum foil and roll it under his tongue. He swallows the pill down and mentally scolds himself for never carrying a bottle of water when he needs one. His fingers fumble in his pocket, looking for a candy, but he forgot those as well.

The bitter taste of the pill lingers on his tongue, as he lines up for his very first interview for JC corp. Around him, mostly men. A few candidates are reviewing their notes, some others are exchanging formalities.

When Jongdae suggested Baekhyun send his resume to JC, it was mainly because he himself worked in one of their branches, and the corporation is renown to be omega friendly. Finding a job being an omega isn’t exactly difficult, but rather bothersome. People have certain expectations about omegas’ lifestyles, they like to assume what omegas would, and wouldn’t do in an environment where Beta and Alphas are the majority. JC is one of those corporations where, at least according to most reviews, omegas are treated fairly well.

Jongdae insisted it would be fine, and Baekhyun is in desperate need for a job, so he’s not one to complain. He can handle some bullying and some sleeping around, as long as it’s not as frequent as it was in his last job. He doesn’t expect to be treated like a Beta, that would be pure utopia. But as long as he can enjoy it too, he doesn’t mind.

The people around him today must be mostly Beta. They don’t approach him, but Baekhyun is also standing there alone, looking at his phone and not trying to have a conversation with anyone. Jongdae has sent him a kakaotalk text.

 _Fighting!_ it says. Baekhyun’s lips curl up, and he hopes his bad luck doesn’t ruin everything as it does every single time. His heat creeping up his skin like some kind of disease today is more than enough already.

He throws glances to the two guys standing next to him— nobody seems to be able to smell him, which is nice.

They call his name from behind a glass door and he feels eyes on him when he stands up. The whole office is so aseptic and impersonal— grey and white hues, not even a plant in the corners. He can’t breathe for a moment, but he feels his legs walk for him, so he follows.

When the door opens and he is invited in, he’s also told to sit on a chair. He bows, almost on automatic pilot, then he sits down and takes a breath. The commission is made of three middle aged men, the one in the middle smiles at him with a smile that would make anyone run. Baekhyun knows that smile, he’s seen it on many people before. It’s the smile of someone who knows they have the upper hand. Baekhyun stands his ground, cracks a confident smile as he forces to relax his hands spread on his thighs.  


 

-

 

Baekhyun remembers the apologetic smile on the doctor’s lips when he was handed back his Classification Test results. She gave him his first suppressants with it, and a strawberry candy. “The suppressant pill is kinda bitter,” she said. Baekhyun didn’t know what to reply. He’d grown up thinking he’d be an alpha, or a beta at most. Betas are extremely common, almost everyone Baekhyun knows is a Beta, so he’d expected that’s what he’d be too.

The woman told him to keep it a secret, so that’s what he does.

He’s probably eleven when it happens. His heat is still very far, and he doesn’t need to use that bitter pill, not immediately at least.

The news doesn’t break him, not really. It doesn’t break his family either. His brother just gets a little more protective than he was before. His mom and dad actually congratulate him on the result— his mom kisses him on the cheek, tells him he’ll be the prettiest of the class, since omegas usually are.

Baekhyun isn’t sure whether he’s pretty or not. His friends keep hanging out with him like they always did, they play soccer on PE period and get his hands all dirty with popsicles at the convenience store of the corner of the street where Baekhyun lives.

Baekhyun is eating some dried squid, sittin at the table outside the convenience store where he usually meets with all his neighborhood friends. Jongdae’s there today too, sitting with his legs crossed and a strawberry popsicle in his left hand.

Jongdae stops eating his popsicle mid bite, he looks at him a bit lopsidedly.

“They say you’re an omega, Hyun.” It’s the first time Baekhyun hears the sentence said with such a sad voice. It’s foreign to him, exactly because his family is always been positive about it. He finds himself being a bit defensive.

“Who says so?”

“My mom.”

Baekhyun shrugs, biting off another chunk of his squid, looking right into Jongdae’s eyes.

“I am, so what?”

He sounds a bit aggressive, he does that on purpose like a wild cat cowering away from the predator. Except that Jongdae’s definitely not a predator, and Baekhyun is safe with him.

Jongdae snorts, then shoves a fist on the plastic table. “SO! I’m gonna kick ass of whoever annoys you, understand?”

It’s Baekhyun’s turn to laugh now. “What now…”

“I’m serious. Hyung, you tell me and I kick them.”

“Since when do you call me hyung...It’s cringy, ehw…”

 

Jongdae doesn’t really need to kick any ass, until they’re in high school at least. But he doesn’t forget, and Baekhyun doesn’t forget either. People at school don’t know what rank Baekhyun is, and nobody asks. Baekhyun is loud and funny, he’s the popular kid and everyone likes him in class. Baekhyun could swear they assume he’s a Beta or an Alpha, and he doesn’t bother to correct them.

Of course things can’t go smooth forever now, can they?

He’s sixteen when a new Classification Test is required, and the rumors explode in the whole school. Baekhyun has no idea who’s spread them, but for the first time in years he learns to associate the word omega with a weird sensation of churning in his stomach, of wanting to throw up.

There’s a sound of slippers rushing back into the classroom, and Baekhyun’s feel’s a hand on his shoulder, pressing to catch his attention. It’s Park Jinwoo, with Kim Hyemin and Jung Jeongmin. They look at him with these big eerie smiles on their faces, and Baekhyun instinctively looks for Jongdae in class, but he can’t find him.

“Hey Byun Baek, have you heard there’s an omega in class?” Jinwoo asks. Baekhyun catches that vibration in his tone immediately. Jinwoo’s not asking him out of curiosity.

He sits up, throwing an almost nonchalant glance to the class, where people have gathered in smaller groups to discuss their results.

“Ah, really?” He asks, then he shrugs and grimaces. “That sucks,” he concludes. Detached, as if he were talking about someone else’s problem, not his. “Who is it?”

Jinwoo looks excited— he searches of his friends’ eyes, then turns to Baekhyun once more. His friends shake their heads in denial. _They have no idea_ , Baekhyun thinks, but holds back the relieved sigh he would let out otherwise.

“We don’t know yet, but…” Jinwoo confirms Baekhyun’s suspicions, leaning in. He smells like the bad food of the canteen and sweat. Baekhyun would gladly push him away, but he really doesn’t want to be found out.

“We heard it’s Park Chanyeol,” he whispers. Baekhyun’s eyes automatically look for the Park Chanyeol they’re talking about.

The guy who’s been competing for the athletics tournament for their school. The same Park Chanyeol who’s friend with Class President Do Kyungsoo, that Park Chanyeol. It doesn’t make any sense, because Park Chanyeol doesn’t look like an omega at all. It doesn’t make any sense because the only omega in the class, according to what the doctor said, is Baekhyun.

Baekhyun laughs it off, shaking his head. “You guys are crazy” is all he comments with, turning his head to the blackboard. He wants nothing to do with this. Chanyeol isn’t the type to blatantly show off what his rank is, which is why probably someone decided to drag him into this mess. It really sucks.

Jongdae throws Baekhyun very worried eyebrow wiggles, when he comes back to class. Baekhyun would rather kill him, because that was close, and Jongdae was nowhere to be seen when Baekhyun needed him.

 

Jongdae’s there, though, when Baekhyun gets to use his suppressant for the first time. His first heat doesn’t come full force, and it happens when Jongdae’s come over to play videogames. Jongdae smacks Baekhyun on the back of his head and tells him to hurry and swallow all the suppressants. Then hurries to the convenience store to buy him an ice cream, because suppressants are bitter as fuck, just as the doctor had originally told Baekhyun.

Jongdae’s a great friend. He comes over even when Baekhyun’s heat is bad. Helps him study, chats with Baekhyun’s mom and bro while Baekhyun looks like he could die while watching One Piece on the sofa.

Most people say their first heat memory is bad, but Baekhyun’s quite cheerful. He just felt like having a very horny fever, while his best friend forced him to do a One Piece marathon and fed him ice cream. It could’ve been much worse.

 

What is worse is going back to school.

Baekhyun had expected people to guess he’d been in heat, and to finally forget about the rumor that Park Chanyeol is an omega. Mostly because the guy simply isn’t and also because all Park Chanyeol does was call everyone idiots for bullying him. He could say he isn’t an omega, show his test results and put an end to it, but Park Chanyeol never does.

Jongdae calls him a moron, says that he’s one of those weird people who want to play the hero at their own expenses. Baekhyun isn’t sure what to think about it. All his Alpha friends have confirmed how awful people can become, once they’re given an ounce of power. Jongdae is the only beta he knows who isn’t bitter about not being able to sleep with omegas. And yet, among all of this crap, Park Chanyeol clearly isn’t an omega, but he’d rather take the bullying than have someone else being bullied.

Which is mostly stupid, Baekhyun can’t completely disagree with Jongdae.

But it’s also kind of noble.

And kind of scary.

 

It’s a rainy day when half of the class drags Park Chanyeol— who’s a tiny bit more muscly than they are, but just as tall— to the back of the school to hit him and insult him. They throw insults at him as they kick him.

Baekhyun wants to shout to shut up, that _he_ is the omega, that Park Chanyeol has done absolutely nothing wrong. He can feel the words create a big lump in his throat that he wants to spit out. He stays silent, until he can feel Jongdae run up to him.

That’s when he shouts it. “Just stop it, you fuckers!” and Jongdae follows suit, with more insults, and the first punch to the same Park Jinwoo who’d asked Baekhyun about the rumor, months earlier.

Jongdae is as hyped as him and Baekhyun help each other walk back to class. Baekhyun has a split lip and an achy cheekbone, but that doesn’t hurt as much as knowing he could’ve said something from the start, and he didn’t.

Park Chanyeol smiles at him weakly, from the stretcher in the infirmary, in the next period. He doesn’t say anything, when he sees Baekhyun get his suppressant from the doctor. Then, when Baekhyun gets back to class the next day, he learns that Chanyeol has transferred schools.

And _that_ , breaks him a little.

Chanyeol didn’t know who the omega was, and yet he did all he could to cover for him. For Baekhyun. And Baekhyun did nothing. _Nothing_.

 

Things start to tumble downwards from there.

University starts, and Baekhyun moves to Seoul while Jongdae to Busan. University is wild. A lot of drinking, laughing, and spending nights awake. For Baekhyun it also means that nobody is there to make sure he takes 100% percent care of himself. He forgets suppressants sometimes, and most of the times he just lives with the consequences of taking them a bit later than recommended.

It doesn’t always go that way, though.

He can’t do much, when his heat hits hard during a lecture. Someone drags him out, he hears the words _hospital_ and he thinks he’s safe. But when he’s finally lucid enough to understand what’s going on, there’s someone’s weight over him, and a pair looking at him as if he were the prey.

The worst thing is that it doesn’t even hurt, as this guy — his desk mate for most of his lectures— thrusts into him, even though Baekhyun wants none of this.

Baekhyun shouts to stop, pushes him away. The guy’s a bit taken aback, but he does stop immediately. He looks worried, sorry. He even says it, “I’m sorry. You said it was ok.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. He doesn’t feel like crying, but he’s shaking. The guy in front of him covers him with a blanket, and it’s warm, but Baekhyun keeps shaking. The guy keeps repeating that he’s sorry.

Baekhyun knows he must’ve probably begged for it, as the heat completely took over and he didn’t know what was going on anymore, and yet… “You said you would take me to the hospital how-”

“But you said you wanted me to fuck you.”

Baekhyun wants to hit him, throws the first thing he can find on the bed at his face. Ironically, it’s a pack of condoms.

That was his first heat spent with someone. He regrets not popping his cherry with Jongdae. That would’ve made more sense, at least. Jongdae being his best friend and all.

He sleeps around sometimes, after that. He learns that people tend to misunderstand what he means with _one partner only_ , and that he needs to tell them to fuck off more often than not, but he can live with that.

He’s a survivor.

He survives.

He swallows a suppressor pill, then melts a strawberry candy in his mouth and he lives on.

 

-

 

The old man keeps looking at him with that weird, predator smile on his face.

“I’m seeing there that Mr Byun is an omega,” he starts, and Baekhyun knows what type of guy this is, instantly. “That’s good,” the man continues, only briefly looking at Baekhyun’s resume.

“Since omegas are not that common there’s less competition to get a job position, right, Mr Byun?” The man to the right comments.

Baekhyun feels like suffocating, but he keeps smiling. His palms are sweaty, but he needs this job. “Ah, yes. So they say.”

“It’s my first time seeing a male omega. Not common at all. But I’m sure you can talk about what you can do best, Mr Byun. There must be something,” the man in the center speaks again, and adds a chuckle at the end.

Baekhyun would gladly stand up, walk up to him and punch him in the face, but he stays put. _He needs the job_ , he keeps repeating like a mantra. He chuckles too, tilting his head to the side.

“Of course, sir.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say this fic is just a light, happy story?  
> I lied.  
> I'm drowning you with angst in this chapter. But you'll get fluff in the next, so it's fine.
> 
> Also, please don't throw hate at me because Chanyeol has it a bit bad in this chapter.  
> It'll get better soon, so don't come at me saying I dislike him pls
> 
> Ah, this is also unbetaed. Sorry.

_Guarded_  
_Don't over think how we started_  
_Knew from the second you walked in  
_ _This could be something_

 

Baekhyun’s first day as an intern is a rainy one, and it starts with a call from Jongdae, as Baekhyun dozes off on the subway— forehead against the iron bar on the side of the last seat. He’s an intern, and a new one, so he dragged himself out of bed at 6 in order to be there earlier than his superiors.

 _Don’t miss the stop_ , Jongdae warns him on the other end of the line. It makes Baekhyun jolt at first, then groan back. _Buy some coffee, there’s a Holly’s in front of the office. Their coffee is good._

“You talk way too much considering how early it is,” Baekhyun slurs back.

It’s not even 7:30 am, but someone already smells like alcohol and it somehow made the whole train carriage smell like cheap soju. Baekhyun hates mornings. He’s not a morning person at all. He’s one of those people who keep sleepwalking to work every single morning.

Which is where Jongdae comes into the picture. Jongdae, on the contrary, is a morning person. He’s the type of guy to wake up and go jogging at 4am and go to sleep at 10pm. Jongdae’s also the kind of guy to call home every weekend to talk to his mom.

He’s the kind of guy to morning call Baekhyun to make sure he goes to work, especially on Baekhyun’s first day.

The automated voice on the speakers calls his stop, and Baekhyun has to elbow his way out, Jongdae’s voice talking about his dog still in his ears.

 _As long as you’re not in heat it will be fine_ , Jongdae reminds him when Baekhyun stops in front of the JC Corp building and hesitates before swiping his pass at the entrance.

“I’ll have to come to work when in heat too, ‘Dae. That’s not how it works.”

 

The office looks a little less squalid after Baekhyun is shown his own desk. He brought a small polaroid of him and Jongdae from the last vacation they went to together, he sticks it on his screen and looks at it tilting his head a little. It’s cute, and it’s a start.

“Byun Baekhyun ssi,” someone calls from behind him. It’s a voice he doesn’t recognize from the interview, so they must’ve not been there. The man is probably in his forties, with an obnoxious haircut and a shirt that is begging to be ironed. Baekhyun bows, smiles, and greets back.

The man welcomes him to the Guro branch of JC, says he hopes they can work well together. It’s just small talk, Baekhyun mostly nods and keeps bowing as the man introduces him to a few of his colleagues.

“Oh, and that’s Mr Park Chanyeol, our team leader. He’s the person you’ll have to refer to, if you need anything.” The man chuckles. “And well, he will call you if he needs anything.”

Once he hears his name being called, the man— tall, quite buff, looks like the kind of guy who spends half his day in a gym— finally turns around and bows, noticing that he’s being introduced to someone.

“This is Mr Byun Baekhyun, our new intern,” the man says one more time. Baekhyun instinctively smiles, and Park Chanyeol smiles too.

“Nice to meet you,” he says, and Baekhyun can’t chase away the feeling that he’s seen this guy’s face somewhere before. Even the name is familiar, but he can’t quite place where he’s heard it before. Could be a coincidence though, Park is not such an uncommon name.

“I’ll do my best as we work together,” Baekhyun says bowing one last time. When he looks up, it hits him like a train and he’s taken aback for a moment. The image of his classmates all crowded around one person, throwing insults at him, the guy just curling up as more and more kick him— Baekhyun being paralyzed on the spot, unable to scream.

 _Shit_.

It can’t be. How in the world does he end up working under the same guy who used to be bullied because of him, back in highschool. It gives him the chills, as he tries not to make his smile crumble when Park Chanyeol looks at him.

“I’m sure we’ll be a great team,” Chanyeol says with a cheerful tone. He bows one more time, before walking away, as the Gwajangnim pulls Baekhyun to show him around some more. Baekhyun is in a daze the whole time.

He can’t stop thinking about the last time Park Chanyeol had smiled at him, back in highschool. It had been a small, helpless smile back then. Baekhyun hadn’t known how to react, and he doesn’t know how to deal with the situation now.

 

As he returns to his desk, after being shown even the most hidden crevices of the office by a very scrupulous gwajangnim, he feels Park Chanyeol’s eyes on him. It’s just a brief glance, but it’s intense enough for Baekhyun to feel nervous, anxious almost.

 

He never knew what Chanyeol had thought, back in highschool.

He never knew whether he resented him, or if he just felt sorry for Baekhyun being an omega. They never had the chance to talk, and Baekhyun had lacked the courage to walk up to him, that day almost seven years earlier, when Chanyeol had finally found out that the person he was being bullied for, was Baekhyun.

Even now he lacks the courage to look at him, though rather than fear Baekhyun is pretty sure he could label this weird feeling in his gut as guilt.

He fumbles with his phone as he quickly sends Jongdae a text.

 _You can’t believe who’s working here_ , it says.

When he looks up again, Chanyeol is checking on a paper, standing close to the window on the other side of the room. He’s changed quite a lot. Baekhyun remembers him being the same height as him, a bit reserved but quite cheerful with his friends. However this older version of Park Chanyeol has a much louder presence than he used to have in High School. He looks like the kind of guy people would turn around to look at, if he enters a room.

Baekhyun wonders if Chanyeol remembers him, or _how_ he remembers him.

  
  
  
“It’s pretty clear he does remember me,” Baekhyun says, sitting on his bed in his studio, looking at the ceiling. It’s late at night, a couple weeks after he’s started his internship at JC. He’s dead tired, and he would totally sleep for two hunderd years, but he just needs to vent his frustration to someone, and that someone is, as usual, Kim Jongdae.

 _Well, it’s not like it’s been two centuries, Hyun. Of course he remembers_.

“Well I wish he didn’t.” Baekhyun stretches, closes his eyes, then groans. “Ahh, I don’t know. It’s not like he has a good memory of me anyway. The guy he was beaten for, what luck.”

_You don’t even know if he’s actually mad at you_

Baekhyun frowns. He doesn’t, but Chanyeol hasn’t been acting like he finds Baekhyun’s company pleasant either. “He orders me around, quite often.”

_Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do? He’s your team leader. What about the others?_

“The old alpha guys are greasy. Someone asked when my heat is due. I secretly pray their dicks will wither and fall off. I know they talk about me, sometimes. I saw Park Chanyeol be all buddy with them too.” There’s a vein of disappoint in his own voice, as he adds the last part. He doesn’t even know why he expects his old classmate to be any different.

“Tell them to fuck off,” Jongdae suggests from the other side of the line, and Baekhyun can hear a dog’s bark in the background, then the sound of someone licking against the speaker.

 _Momo says hi_ , Jongdae says with laughter in his voice.

Baekhyun laughs back and sends kissy sounds back to Jongdae’s jack russel.

  
  
Because Chanyeol orders him around so often and so constantly, Baekhyun has barely any time to interact with the other intern and the other colleagues. It’s always very time consuming requests, from sorting out files and transfer them online, to printing multiple copies of all kinds of documents.

Baekhyun can’t understand whether he’s being shamelessly used or not, because Chanyeol gives him tasks with the same cheerful tone and very detached smile every single day. It feels more like he’s trying to make Baekhyun snap at him, rather than actually bully him, like people did at Baekhyun’s previous job.

Baekhyun can feel eyes on him sometimes, when it’s only the two of them left in the office. While at first he avoided those glances, he’s started to meet Park Chanyeol’s eyes more often, now.

Sometimes Park Chanyeol asks him “Do you need anything, Mr Byun?”

Baekhyun just shakes his head, smiling with the same neutrality that Chanyeol uses with him. It seems to make Chanyeol waver a little, whenever Baekhyun looks at him straight in the eyes and Baekhyun secretly enjoys it, it’s his own small victory, because Chanyeol looks away, whenever these exchanges happen.

Chanyeol never comments on it and he never takes the necessary step to talk to Baekhyun outside of work-related topics. Baekhyun always stops himself, whenever he feels like he wants to say something _more_.

  
It’s Baekhyun’s fourth week at work, and things change a little. Chanyeol’s Team has been working on a specific project for a client that they really need to please. Baekhyun’s barely slept for the last three days, and even Chanyeol— who’s usually all smiles and small talk with everyone, looks like he’s gonna give in for the lack of sleep.

Baekhyun hasn’t seen him leave the office, he assumes he probably never did. He’s been wearing the same clothes for a couple days, and his hair’s a mess.

Chanyeol must notice Baekhyun’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown too, after the boy messes up with one of the papers and he has to send a ton of emails to rectify what he just told the whole office.

He squeezes his shoulder, sitting next to Baekhyun. For the first time, Baekhyun sees him in a hoodie and a coffee stain on his shirt, at the hip. “It’s fine. Let’s fix this,” Chanyeol says, with a smile so similar to the one he’d given Baekhyun years ago, that Baekhyun needs to look away for a moment— overwhelmed and a bit scared at the same time.

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun replies, fumbling with the keyboard. Chanyeol shakes his head.

“I really suck at this Team Leader thing,” he murmurs next to him, his voice curling up in a small chortle at the end. “You’re doing great, we can finish this.” He pauses. “I really want my bed.”

Chanyeol looks very human, for a moment. He doesn’t look like the leader he’s been acting like, in the past few weeks. A few words, and he’s the cheerful classmate Baekhyun has a faint memory of.

  
The project’s almost over. It’s dark outside when Chanyeol suddenly stops Baekhyun on the way to his desk. He shouts his name, and there’s an inflection in his voice that Baekhyun’s never heard before.

“Byun Baekhyun!” His eyes are wide open, a hand covering his mouth and nose and he cowers away from where Baekhyun is standing, flattening himself against a wall. Suddenly everyone in the office is staring at him, and Baekhyun feels a wave of panic wash over him.

_He’s an alpha, then_

Baekhyun finds himself thinking, as he quickly sniffs his wrists and realizes what’s shocking Chanyeol and everyone else in the office as well. “Shit,” he mutters under his breath as he quickly bows and grabs a small box from under his desk, before hurrying to the toilet— the image of a grimacing Chanyeol flashing at the corner of his eyes.

He hadn’t even realized how warm he felt, before Park Chanyeol had pointed out how strong were the omega pheromones he was releasing. Now, sitting on the toilet bowl with a suppressant injection set, Baekhyun realizes he does feel very feverish, and that his body’s almost into heat already.

Tonight’s probably gonna be a nightmare, he thinks as he injects the instant suppressant with a syringe in the crook of his elbow.

When he splashes his face with water and looks at the mirror he realizes how much his cheeks are flushed all the way to his neck, and that his eyes are unnaturally watery. He groans, hanging his head low and forcing himself to the door.

He just wants to go home.

“Hey.”

It’s a deep, raspy voice and it takes no effort whatsoever to connect who it belongs to. Park Chanyeol’s squatting against the wall, just a little further from the men’s bathroom. “Are you ok?” he asks, looking up.

Baekhyun stops on his step, frowning. Now _this_ he would’ve never expected. Chanyeol, however, looks as if it was a very natural gesture, to wait for his omega intern outside a bathroom that smells funny, to check on him. He looks as if he really wants to be there.

“I’m fine, Mr Park,” Baekhyun mutters, defensive.

There’s only a few reasons why an alpha would bother to check on an omega, when it’s very clear they’re in heat, and none of those reasons are compatible with the concept of _worry_. Baekhyun’s used to certain dynamics between ranks, and Chanyeol has no particular reason to be nice to him in particular.

“Do you have anything you want me to do?” Baekhyun asks, with a speck of bitterness in his tone. It comes out automatically, he doesn’t realize he’s doing it until he sees something akin to confusion, then hurt on Chanyeol’s face.

When Chanyeol speaks again, there’s no trace of worry or concern in his voice. “I was going to ask you to phone the other division for me. Do you think you can do it?”

“Of course, sir. I’ll be on my way.”

  


Baekhyun’s heat lasts a week or so. He feels a bit wobbly on his feet and he can’t concentrate, but the suppressants at least help him not to completely lose it under the effect of pheromones. He can’t miss a work day, especially since he had to go through a lot to finally get the internship at JC.

Nobody seems to be particularly bothered by Baekhyun working despite his heat, or at least Baekhyun wouldn’t know because Chanyeol keeps him away from the office as long as possible.

He sends him on errands, to buy coffee or deliver documents to other firms. Baekhyun barely has the time to greet his colleagues before he’s told to leave to do this, to do that. It’s hard to find places where to take his suppressants, especially the injection type and his colleagues stare at him a little longer than necessary, probably, but Baekhyun’s pretty sure he doesn’t smell much like an omega in heat. He’s very scrupulous with the suppressants this time, for the exact reason that he doesn’t want to bother, nor be bothered.

Park Chanyeol, however, he’s a whole different story. He seems very affected. No matter how many times Baekhyun checks that whether he he smells too much— and confirms that he doesn’t, Park Chanyeol always looks on edge when approaching him. His ears go lightly red, there’s a pinkish hue around the collar of his white shirt.

 _Must be because he’s one of those purebred alphas from a rich family_ , Jongdae suggests through one of the texts Baekhyun sneaks between an errand and the other.

Baekhyun texts back that he’s not sure. He’s quite positive they would’ve known, if Park Chanyeol from their high school days was from a rich family. However he _is_ definitely more affected than anyone else. He smiles through it, and he’s his own professional self at work, however Baekhyun can see quite clearly how that’s only a façade Chanyeol is putting up because he needs to.

When Baekhyun is called to Chanyeol’s desk, on one of the last days of his heat, Chanyeol has a crease between his eyebrows and Baekhyun can’t quite place why it is there. He wonders for a moment if, again, it’s because of him being in heat.

“You called, sir?” he asks.

Chanyeol stands up, and Baekhyun instantly knows he must be bothered by something. He forces a twitchy smile to his lips, and Baekhyun thinks it’s kinda cute and worrisome at the same time. “Yes, I called you,” he says.

He keeps looking at Baekhyun, as if trying to find a solution about Baekhyun himself, and he was deeply conflicted about it.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” He frowns again, biting his lower lip. He cards his hand through his hair a little stiffly.

He’s not affected by the heat anymore— his ears are not red, he’s not sweating slightly, nor letting out any alpha pheromones. Baekhyun’s heat is almost over, and Chanyeol’s body is definitely not reacting to it anymore.

So it can’t be because of that.

“Team Leader Park, is there something I can do?”

Suddenly Chanyeol meets his eyes, keeps them there for a couple of seconds and Baekhyun raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Do you know the archive on the fourth floor? Go there and tidy up the room. The last time I’ve been there it was a mess.”

Baekhyun frowns. It doesn’t make any sense. “We have a meeting today, sir. Miss Kim Boram and had a presentation prepared, I can’t leave it up to-”

 “Yes you can. And you will.” Chanyeol cuts in, before Baekhyun can even finish.

He has an expression, a certain rigidity to his posture that Baekhyun has never seen before. “Just go, stay there. You can go once you’ve tidied it up.” He says it with such an imperative tone to it, that Baekhyun doesn’t even try to fight him.

“You don’t want me to come to the meeting,” Baekhyun sums up, translating what Chanyeol’s trying to tell him. “Is this some kind of punishment?”

“It’s not your place to come,” he replies, somewhat coldly and yet, as if he was forcing himself to appear like that. That crease between his eyebrows doesn’t fade away.

Baekhyun nods, frozen on the spot.  He walks away from the desk, and prepares to be mentally insulted by half the team, because he’s leaving them with an empty spot to fill in for. The meeting could’ve been an opportunity for Baekhyun to get to know people from the other firm, but Chanyeol had decided to relegate Baekhyun to the archive.

Probably because he’s an omega.

It’s all because he’s an omega anyway.

He’d felt guilty for what had happened to Chanyeol, years before. And he’d been grateful in a weird, twisted way, because the guy had indirectly defended him, he’d prevented that Baekhyun spent his last years of highschool feeling like an outsider in his own class.

Today, though, he can’t help but think Chanyeol isn’t that different from those alphas who had hit him, back then. And all the alphas who had treated Baekhyun like he wasn’t good enough, for most of his life.

 

  
The archive is a mess, as expected. It’s dusty and gross, and nobody’s cleaned it for years. The more time he spends in the small, cramped room with tons of boxes and piles of trash people must’ve thrown there because they didn’t find any better place to do so,  the more Baekhyun feels something like a giant balloon inflate inside of him. Bigger and bigger, until he can’t stand it anymore.

He wishes he could explode, and cause as much damage as possible. He considers resigning, for a moment. He thought things would be easier, since Jongdae had recommended the job and JC is renown to be a corporation that with a certain ethic towards omegas. He’d hoped for nothing, because _of course_ he had to meet Park Chanyeol, and he had to make it harder for him.

Baekhyun throws more papers in boxes without really looking at them, but slowly the small, cramped room feels a little less stuffy, as Baekhyun puts cardboards back on shelves, and gets rid of all the trash.

He breathes in after a few hours, and someone opens the door and stands in the doorway, his hand on the doorknob.

“You said to leave after I finished. I finished, can I leave?” Baekhyun asks, with a certain bitter politeness to his voice, as Park Chanyeol enters the room in his suit and messy black hair. He sighs, and Baekhyun wonders what the hell he’s sighing about, when he’s not the one who missed a meeting and stood their colleagues up for no reason.

“You can leave, you worked hard today,” Chanyeol replies, his voice low. He sounds tired, as if he had the longest day of his life. He’s not even looking at him, as Baekhyun starts to walk towards the exit of the room.

He stops, suddenly, then turns around. “What is it that you want, from me?” He keeps the honorifics, but Chanyeol should be able to feel the frustration in his tone. “This meeting was a great opportunity. You’ve been making me work overtime, ordering me around the whole week even if I clearly wasn’t in the condition to do so.”

Chanyeol’s expression shifts imperceptibly from neutral to confused, to neutral again.

“Do you want me to sleep with you, like every other alpha in this world, mh?” Baekhyun keeps going, opening his arms slightly, then letting them fall to his sides again. “Will you finally let me be, if I sleep with you? Is this how things work for you too?”

“I think you misunderstood,” Chanyeol starts, but Baekhyun is too bitter and disappointed to actually take his time to listen. It may be selfish, childish even, but that’s how the world has worked for him since when he was old enough to be sexualized.

“Will you finally leave me alone, if I sleep with you?” Baekhyun says, more calmly, looking straight in Chanyeol’s brown eyes.

Chanyeol lowers his head slightly, opens his mouth to reply. Then closes it again, and only after he speaks. “Do you even want to sleep with me?”

He doesn’t sound like the alpha Team Leader, now. Again, it’s almost as if he let go of all the control. He looks young, for a moment.

“I’ll see you later, then. I’ll wait for you in the parking lot.”

 When Baekhyun walks out, Chanyeol doesn’t try to stop him.

  
  
  
Baekhyun expects Chanyeol to push him down on the bed of the motel, maybe whisper something dirty in his ear and let out alpha pheromones to make him all soft and pliant, but he does none of that. The alpha looks a little lost instead, as he fumbles with his own shirt while Baekhyun sits up on the duvet, already half naked.

“We’re still in time…” Chanyeol hesitates, removing his shirt and standing there, holding the piece of fabric between his fingers. “If you don’t wanna.”

The thought that maybe he got everything wrong crosses Baekhyun’s mind for a second, but he pushes it away, because it just can’t be. “Hurry,” he says instead, moving up to close the distance between them. Baekhyun undoes the button of his pants, kisses the line of his clavicle— Chanyeol’s skin soft, warm under his lips, and he looks up to meet his eyes. He wonders why he has to encourage the alpha into this, but he does anyway. “I want to, c’mon.”

Chanyeol gets rid of the pants stumbling a little, holding on the side of the bed— the points of his ears slightly red. Baekhyun almost chuckles, doubting whether Chanyeol’s really an alpha, or if he’s just faking the whole thing, since he looks so out of his element right now. So he does what he needs to do, and he leans in to kiss him again, slowly, enticing— to get Chanyeol in the mood.

He alpha secures his hands on Baekhyun’s hips in response, as he traces the seam of his lips with his tongue. Baekhyun can’t feel his own pheromones, but Chanyeol must be able to smell something, because he relaxes under Baekhyun’s touch and pulls him impossibly closer, so close that their skin touch, and Baekhyun feels warm and safe for a moment.

Chanyeol keeps looking at him carefully from under his lashes— cautious, as if he’s afraid Baekhyun will freak out on him. The air fills with his alpha pheromones when Baekhyun noses his neck, both of them standing on their knees on the bed. Baekhyun can tell Chanyeol is getting aroused, but Chanyeol’s pheromones are not imposing, nor aggressive. It’s still a lukewarm reaction, it baffles Baekhyun, because he’s not used to this.

He’s used to much more hurried sessions of almost purely instinctive, carnal sex. There’s no hesitating, no fingers sliding on smooth skin. This is so different from what he’s used to that it makes him anxious, and he decides he need to fix it, make it more familiar.

“Lie down,” he suggests, lightly pushing Chanyeol until he’s striding him, legs bracketing his waist. “I know what I’m doing,” he reassures.

Chanyeol frowns, but he nods. He lets Baekhyun lead, it doesn’t question it, and this too is definitely not a common occurrence for Baekhyun, but he likes the control he gets from it, and he likes the way Chanyeol’s looking up at him— expectant.

Chanyeol helps him slide his boxers off— he never takes his eyes off him. He runs his hands on Baekhyun’s thighs up to his hips then down to his knees, it’s almost tender, intimate. He’s hard, but he’s not rushing as Baekhyun takes his dick out and aligns over it.

He concentrates on Chanyeol’s heaving chest— up, down, as the man breathes in and out, biting on his lip. He looks like he’s trying really hard not to move, and maybe that’s exactly what he means to do. “Take your time,” Chanyeol says.

Baekhyun snorts, letting Chanyeol’s member slide in slowly, but probably not slowly enough for Park Chanyeol, judging from his shocked expression. “Take your time, Baekhyun-ah.”

“It’s fine,” he says with a slight wince when something hurts for just a second. Chanyeol must notice that too, because he slowly, imperceptibly thrusts up until he’s all in and Baekhyun trembles slightly, and huffs.

His lips curl up in an involuntary smile, when Chanyeol meets his eyes. It lasts a second, really, and he immediately asks himself what the hell he’s thinking. Something seems to click right into place, like a puzzle piece. He can’t tell what exactly, but Chanyeol’s confused— almost lost expression, shifts into something different he can’t quite place.

The air feels thicker with alpha pheromones, as Chanyeol switches them, until Baekhyun’s the one lying down, with his legs wrapped around Chanyeol’s torso.

“Is this alright?” Chanyeol asks again, then he leans in, hovering over Baekhyun and drowning him in his presence. He tilts Baekhyun’s chin up, searching for his lips like a madman, with an urgency Baekhyun doesn’t understand. He kisses soft at first, then deeper, locking his tongue with Baekhyun and starting to move with a slow, constant rhythm.

Chanyeol rests his forehead against his as he thrusts in— Baekhyun’s senses go haywire, as he closes his eyes and lets the scent of Chanyeol’s pheromones get to his head. It’s so intense Baekhyun thinks he could get drunk on it. He locks his arms around Chanyeol’s neck, pulls him closer and revels in the illusion of being in love for a moment.

He knows it’s just pheromones, he doesn’t forget why he’s there, but he takes in the pleasure as he quietly moans against Chanyeol’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you survive?lol
> 
> Come find me on @roseygrid for chanbaek fangirling!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late guys. Jet-lag killed me and I had to go back to real life a lot faster than I thought.  
> Here's the new chapter! 
> 
> Useful notes:  
> -[this](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--z2Oc2jxxUE/Ttd2aOtsNnI/AAAAAAAACOE/B2cGzAXAPik/s1600/3.jpg) is a pojangmacha.  
> \- And a _hoeshik_ is when people from the same office go out after work to eat and drink, chief included. It usually ends up lasting the whole night, and people usually get very drunk. The hierarchy sort of makes you unable to refuse alcohol, which is why everyone gets super drunk until they pass out. Hooray to korea and alcoholism!
> 
> As usual this is unbetaed and it's 3am so please be understanding if there's typos and let me know in the comments if you find any, pls!

_ Everybody's looking for a love _ __  
_ To start a riot _ __  
_ But every time I look in your eyes _ _  
_ __ The world gets quiet

 

The motel room is barely lit when Baekhyun sits up in the bed, still a little groggy but with all the intentions to drag himself out of the room, leave and never look at Chanyeol again. 

The alpha’s sitting on the opposite side of the bed to Baekhyun, the small window looking on the street open enough for him to smoke and not set the fire alarm. The room still smells a bit like cigarettes, but Baekhyun doesn’t mind too much. 

He’s only wearing pants, and if Baekhyun was close enough he would notice Chanyeol must be a bit cold, because there’s goosebumps on his arm and torso, as he’s facing the open window and letting the winter breeze in. There’s a couple marks on his shoulders, and Baekhyun finds himself a little embarrassed, realizing he’s the one who left them. 

He wasn’t thinking while they were doing it. It felt like his brain was completely numb, or rather so overwhelmed by everything else that he couldn’t process what he was doing, not fully. All he could see was that crease on Chanyeol’s forehead as the alpha hovered over him and leaned in for a kiss— a soft, long kiss. Then that smug— and yet a little shy smile he cracked when Baekhyun met his eyes. He’d tried to remain focused through it, and Baekhyun had snorted at him lightly.

Baekhyun knows for a fact he’s throwing himself in something he should stay away from. He knows he should probably back off now that he’s still in time. He can feel the pull, when Chanyeol throws out his cigarette and slowly turns around to face him.

He looks surprised for a second, his eyebrows cocking up. “You’re awake,” he comments, as if it wasn’t obvious. He stares, his eyes digging holes into Baekhyun naked body. Baekhyun feels exposed for a moment, though Chanyeol saw everything he could’ve seen  the night before already.

Baekhyun turns his head away, sitting up hurriedly. He starts fumbling with his clothes on the floor— his boxers on the bed stand, his shirt on the floor next to the pants. He can’t find his socks at first, he frowns.

“Are you leaving?” Chanyeol asks from behind him. There’s something in his voice that seems to be pleading for Baekhyun to stay instead.

“Yeah, it’s late anyway.”

“We have a couple of hours more before we have to check out, you can just sleep some more.” There it is again, that little inflection saying  _ come back _ , and yet not forcing it on him completely.

On one hand it makes Baekhyun hesitate, on the other it makes him mad. Chanyeol’s speaking as if they were lovers who spent a night together at a motel. He could stay a little more, he could make himself comfortable in Chanyeol’s arms and pretend all of what happened wans’t only because Chanyeol’s an alpha and Baekhyun’s an omega. 

“It’s ok,” he says simply. He doesn't need to make this night longer than it already was.

He can’t see Chanyeol’s contrariated expression, but he can definitely feel it in his voice when he speaks again. “I think you misunderstood something, here,” he starts. “Did you really sleep with me because you want me to leave you alone at work?”

Baekhyun turns around, balancing on one foot to wear his socks, then card a hand through his hair. He wants to get out of there. “Yeah, what other reason should I have? It usually works this way, doesn’t it?”

When he looks back, there’s an expression on Chanyeol’s face that resembles that of a kicked puppy. He looks so young and so  _ normal _ for a moment. Baekhyun remembers thinking the same thing, back when Chanyeol had stalled outside of the bathroom to check on him.

“Well, it’s not like I didn’t want it.”

“I’ll drive you back home,” Chanyeol replies instead, looking down. They stay in silence until they reach Chanyeol’s car, in the parking lot.

 

Baekhyun’s head bumps against the car window as Chanyeol changes lane. The radio’s playing some acoustic song Baekhyun doesn’t know. Chanyeol’s humming to it, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and following the beat. 

He looks conflicted, biting on his lower lip every now and then, as if trying to formulate a thought. Baekhyun can’t help but feel a bit guilty, as he recalls Chanyeol’s expression in the motel room— that flash of hurt in his eyes. 

At least now that it’s done Chanyeol won’t bother him anymore at the office.

Or maybe things will get worse, and Chanyeol will use this night as lever to get more from him… or maybe...

“I didn’t mean to bully you, back at work. I really don’t want you to see it that way,” Chanyeol says out of the blue. He sighs soon after. “I know why you’re seeing it this way but please don’t. I’m really sorry.”

Baekhyun is taken aback for a moment, but he shakes his head slowly, gesturing as if to laugh Chanyeol’s words off. How is he supposed to see it? That’s always how it is. Chanyeol keeping him away from the office, ordering him around and stalling outside of the bathroom when he was in heat. These are not things that Baekhyun hasn’t experienced before, and they were always because the alpha who was behaving that way had taken a weird possessive interest to him.

Sometimes it wasn’t only one person, sometimes it was a couple. More than a couple. The context changed, but the feeling and the situations were similar.

“It’s ok, alphas are like that,” he murmurs back, looking out of the car window.

Chanyeol sighs again, then turns the radio off. “It’s not like that. You were in heat, there’s mostly alphas in our office. I just wanted you to stay out of it so that they didn’t have the chance to cross the line.” He breathes out. “Do you have any idea what you smell like, despite the suppressants? Because it feels like you clearly don’t.”

Baekhyun can’t do much but keep his eyes on him. “Mh?” Something inside him stubbornly shifts, and he wonders whether Chanyeol isn’t an exception to what he’s learned about alphas so far. Maybe he really is. 

“And the day I had you clean the archive, didn’t you stop for a moment to think about what company the meeting was gonna be with? They are not too approving of people like you in workplaces. Which doesn’t make sense, but I didn’t want you do have to justify your presence in the meeting to our client,” he finally explains. “Again, I am sorry I told you the way I did, but something tells me you’re stubborn when it comes to these things.”

Baekhyun lets out a breath, then nods slowly. “I see,” it’s all he says. “You...didn’t have to do all of this. I never asked.”

“I know,” Chanyeol replies, determined, as he keeps looking ahead to the road in front of them. “But I’m gonna keep helping you on the workplace. I’m your Team Leader, after all.” 

It’s dawn and there’s nobody on the streets— thankfully they’re too early for rush hour. Baekhyun nods to Chanyeol’s resolution, a bit skeptical, a bit puzzled, then falls asleep in the alpha’s car, until he feels someone shaking his shoulder, telling him they’ve arrived.

  
  


Baekhyun doesn’t believe Chanyeol much, at first, nor he believes his explanation about why he did what he did. He even discusses it with Jongdae when he comes visit with Momo for the weekend. It’s  _ that _ hard to believe for him, that Chanyeol could be an exception to all the shitty people he’s met so far. 

“I say he’s telling the truth. I have alpha friends, some of them are nice,” Jongdae suggests as he’s stretching on the sofa. “Plus wasn’t he the one who took the beatings for the omegas, back at school?”

“ _ For me _ . He took a beating for me. Which is why I thought he would hate me,  _ I  _ would hate me if I were him.”

“I don’t think that guy’s like that. You’re just used to shitty alphas.”

Jongdae shrugs it off, then kicks Baekhyun to make some ramyun and turns the tv on on a program about traveling in India. 

“Did you sleep with him?” Jongdae asks after a while, yelling from the other room as Momo patiently waits next to Baekhyun’s leg, hoping for a piece of SPAM.

“Yeah,” he replies, tossing a small cube of SPAM for Momo to catch. She does.

“And?"

“He’s nice. A bit too nice. But I feel that was just the pheromones acting up. You know when you feel all fuzzy? That’s all pheromones.”

Baekhyun can almost  _ see _ Jongdae raise his eyebrows, perplexed. “I wouldn’t know. I’m a beta, remember? And you always say it’s the pheromones. But you never say they’re nice.”

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything back. He stirs the ramen in the pot, then carries it back to the living room, followed by Momo wagging her tail. It’s dark outside, and the flickering lights of the city look a little magical.

Jongdae’s right, he never says they’re nice.

  
  


Chanyeol’s attitude changes slightly, when they meet again at work. He’s smiling a little more obviously, and instead of keeping Baekhyun away from his alpha colleagues, it feels like he tries to stand next to him, whenever there’s interactions with the alphas Baekhyun had perceived as a little problematic from the start.

Seeing Chanyeol’s there, they seem to refrain from making certain comments regarding Baekhyun’s ranking. They even start treating him more nicely. Baekhyun can’t believe his eyes when Seokjin, the guy three desks away from him, shows up with drip coffee and a couple of ginseng candies to give him.

Chanyeol is on the other side of the room, and he only spares them a quick glance. Baekhyun notices him though, as he notices the smug grin curling up the corners of his lips. 

There’s one time where Baekhyun has to work overnight to complete a project. Chanyeol doesn’t need to stay, but he does anyway, after changing from his usual work attire to a hoodie and a pair of sneakers. They stark a weird contrast with his black trousers, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Why don’t you change too?” He asks, slouching on the chair. “It’s just the two of us.”

Baekhyun shakes his head, his eyes lingering on Chanyeol’s broad shoulders when he’s not looking at the screen. He ends up wearing his glasses at some point, pushing them back with the back of his hand from time to time.

He notices Chanyeol is staring— almost mesmerized, but he’s very careful not to comment on it. It makes him feel flustered, because Chanyeol doesn’t seem to be looking at him with that hungry gaze everyone looks at him with. It’s weirdly different, and maybe Baekhyun know what it is, but he’s warily keeping a distance from that thought.

Baekhyun’s stomach growls loudly at some point, while they’re reviewing one of the presentations. It’s so loud it almost echoes in the whole room. Baekhyun doesn’t know where to run or hide. “I’m hungry,” he announces a bit stiffly.

Chanyeol snorts first, then starts laughing louder. He even smacks Baekhyun’s shoulder, as he stands up. “Yeah, Hyun. I could tell.” 

_ Be right back _ , he adds as he leaves. 

Baekhyun can smell pizza before he even sees Chanyeol come back with his coat on. “The pizza place downstairs was still open. I hope you like pizza.” He’s grinning all twitchy, with his hair a mess and the hood from his hoodie peeking out from the back of his long coat. Even his trainers look odd with the look. It’s cute.

“I love pizza,” Baekhyun says, and he hurries to steal the two boxes from Chanyeol’s hands before he can even sit. “I think I’ll live now,” he says as he opens the first box.

“Aren’t I nice?” Chanyeol asks jokingly, as Baekhyun glasses fog up a little from the steam.

“The nicest.”

Baekhyun realizes he’s fallen asleep because he hears Chanyeol trying to whisper on his phone, from behind him. He’s too groggy to understand what he’s saying, but the digital clock on his desk say it’s a little earlier than five.

Chanyeol has taken Baekhyun’s glasses off, folded it and put them in a corner of the desk. 

“You could’ve woken me up,” Baekhyun mumbles when Chanyeol comes to sit next to him again. The pizza boxes have been thrown away already and Chanyeol’s only wearing a t-shirt. “The presentations?”

“I finished them,” he replies, as he pats Baekhyun’s shoulder. Only then Baekhyun realizes Chanyeol has draped his hoodie on him. It’s too big, but it’s warm and Baekhyun really doesn’t want to take it off.

  
  
  
  


It’s a Friday night when Chanyeol invites Baekhyun to eat something in the  _ pojangmacha  _ not too far from the office. He can see Baekhyun hesitate as soon as he asks, as if Baekhyun had that  _ no _ written all over his face. 

“Just something quick,” he says, leaning against the side of the elevator with a somewhat tired grin. “Then you can go, promise.”

Baekhyun opens his mouth to say something more, but he gives up in the end. He shrugs. “Whatever,” he says.

Chanyeol laughs shortly and way too happily for Baekhyun’s liking.

It’s warm inside the pojangmacha, even though it’s drizzling outside and it’s quite windy. Baekhyun is all bundled up despite the warmth— his nose buried inside his scarf. Chanyeol ordered some deep fried vegetables, some tteokbokki and fishcake soup. They’re sharing a bottle of soju, though none of them seems to be much on the mood for drinking tonight.

Chanyeol is a chatty eater, Baekhyun is too and the space under the pojangmacha tent is crowded enough that they have to speak loudly to hear each other. Baekhyun can tell, again, it’s mostly betas and alphas. Chanyeol’s next to him, though, so people look at him, from time to time, but they don’t try to approach him. 

“Can’t believe it’s already Friday,” Baekhyun starts. He pours some soju for Chanyeol, then he pours it for Baekhyun soon after. “I’m so tired I could drop dead right this moment.”

Chanyeol chuckles, gulping on his soju. He just looks at Baekhyun for a few moments, the time time it takes Baekhyun to realize and smile at him just lightly.

“Are you not tired?”

“Just a little. Like everyone else I guess.” Chanyeol picks up a couple tteoks with his chopsticks, bites into one. 

It’s small talk, and there’s a couple long silences here and there, but they feel comfortable, and Baekhyun thinks that maybe he doesn’t mind Chanyeol’s company after all.

“I wanted to thank you, you know, for all you’ve been doing at work” he says after a while. He’s very careful not to look at Chanyeol’s eyes, as he talks. It must be because he get timid when he has to be serious. “And to say that I’m sorry, for what happened last time.”

Chanyeol shakes his head, tapping with his fingers on his cup of soju. Baekhyun notices he’s looking away too, and maybe trying to suppress a smile.

“It’s alright Hyun. I’m not even helping that much to be honest. People just never act like decent human beings, I mean…” he bites on his bottom lip, fumbling with the edge of the table. “You should be used to be treated normally, you know? Nicely. But some people just suck. Not sure why they would want to live like assholes, but they do and it sucks.”

In the end Jongdae was right, and Chanyeol really  _ is _ a nice alpha. Baekhyun is half content that he’s wrong for once, and half internally groaning because he has to admit that Jongdae was right after all.

“People just grow up that way, Chanyeol. You can’t change everyone,” replies, a bit resigned. There’s a shadow of a smile hidden in the corners of his lips. “But thank you, I guess.”

Chanyeol frowns, and Baekhyun knows exactly which part of the sentence Chanyeol didn’t like. He’s pretty sure the alpha would probably say something back, something along the lines of  _ of course I can, instead _ , but he never gets to say those words.

His phone rings, and Baekhyun quickly gestures for him to reply. He does, with the usual crease between his eyebrows that appears when he’s worried about something. Baekhyun observes him quietly, as he says just a couple of words, then he hangs up.

The voice on the other side of the phone is that of a guy, what Chanyeol says is just “Outside of work,” and “Yeah, why”, before he realizes that the other person has hung up first.

“A friend,” Chanyeol comments apologetically.

Baekhyun snorts, amused. “Our friends hang up on us all the time. Why are we friends with them again?”

Chanyeol chuckles, but the crease between his eyebrows doesn’t fade away and Baekhyun’s left wondering why, eating some of the deep fried vegetables until the friend appears and Baekhyun starts asking himself unwanted questions.

 

The friend is tall, dressed casually in a hoodie and a windbreaker, rocking a bright blue beanie over black hair. He enters in the pojangmacha when Baekhyun and Chanyeol have finished their first bottle of soju and Chanyeol’s talking about his married sister, how she wants enough children to make a football team.

The whole crowd turns to look at him, also Chanyeol does and it takes a few moments more for Baekhyun to realize why. The second he does, Chanyeol has already bolted outside, dragging the tall, handsome friend out of the pojangmacha. 

He only turns around to gesture to Baekhyun to follow him outside.

Baekhyun doesn’t know who tall, handsome friend is, but he’s definitely and omega, one that forgot to take suppressants and had the attention of the whole stall in the blink of an eye. 

  
  


“His name’s Oh Sehun and he’s an idiot,” Chanyeol says as Sehun uses one of Baekhyun’s extra injections suppressants, sitting on the passenger seats of Chanyeol’s car, in the parking lot. Baekhyun’s standing next to him, helping him with the dosage and all.

“Nice to meet you, hyung,” tall, handsome guy says. “I’m not an idiot, by the way.”

Baekhyun chortles as he bows a little to greet him. “I have to say that  _ was _ a little stupid, yeah. And risky,” he comments. Sehun doesn’t listen, or he doesn’t look like he care much about what Baekhyun is saying, or the fact that Chanyeol’s looking at him with this sad, concerned face. 

“How did you even get here? Couldn’t you go to the hospital by yourself?” He asks, reaching to take Sehun’s chin and tilt it back a little. Baekhyun knows exactly what Sehun smells like, and how he looks— a little red, a little innocent, as if daring people to come at him. It’s not his fault, of course, it’s the heat making him look prettier. Chanyeol doesn’t seem too affected, however. 

Sehun lets Chanyeol observe him for a moment, then turns his head away. “I was closeby. You know I don’t want to go alone.”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t comment, and Chanyeol doesn’t seem to want to explain further. He just sighs and says “Yeah, I know.”

Baekhyun’s not sure what he’s looking at. If friends, or lovers. Chanyeol slept with him, but that doesn’t prevent him from seeing other people after all. This Sehun could be one of those people, or he could be a lover, judging by the way Chanyeol looks at him— caring, but a tad too concerned for a friend.

He doesn’t ask. He convinces himself he doesn’t need to know.

“Do you have more suppressants at home, or should I go upstairs to the office to take some more? I have an extra stock, just in case.”

“It’s okay,” Sehun replies. His eyes turn into crescents when he smiles and he looks a bit rigid, even if he’s in heat and he’s sitting down he’s not even slouching. “I have some at home.”

He smells like omega in heat, it’s strong enough that Baekhyun can smell it too. The suppressant is slowly working, muffling the scent little by little. Yet Chanyeol is not even covering his mouth like he did for Baekhyun, when he was in heat. It’s weird, Baekhyun can’t explain it and Chanyeol doesn’t bother to.

“So is he your boyfriend?” Sehun asks, hinting at Baekhyun with a flick of his chin. “You’re his type,” he continues, this time actually looking at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol groans, looking away, to the empty parking lot. “Shut up, Oh Sehun.”

“I’m his junior,” Baekhyun hurries to rectify. “I’m working for his office as an intern.”

Sehun smirks, despite the heat and despite the flushed cheeks and all. “Only colleagues then?”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes at him, but he doesn’t reply, not immediately. He leaves the passenger seat to walk to the other side of the car. “C’mon, I’m driving you home. Hyun-ah, you can come too if you want.”

Baekhyun reluctantly climbs on the backseat. He can see Chanyeol’s nape from here— a mole between his ear and his jaw. It’s interesting, very distracting. Baekhyun mentally curses all the omega pheromones in the air, because he’d totally kiss that mole if he could

But then, again, Sehun opens the glove compartment and takes a scarf out of it. It’s blue, the same shade of blue of the beanie he’s wearing, and Baekhyun’s left wondering.  
  
  
  


Baekhyun’s dragged out to drink with the whole office, the Friday after. It’s something he’d gladly avoid, but there’s no way he can refuse his boss, so the best he can do is stand next to Seokjin on the way to the restaurant. Park Chanyeol’s walking ahead, next to the head of the division. He stands out, being so tall next to everyone else.

The restaurant’s not too crowded, and they all sit in a private room at a big, long table with the chief seated at the head of it. They order a few things to share— some kind of seasoned crab, thai noodles soup and some stir fried rice, then people start pouring soju for each other, and Baekhyun can’t do much but follow.

Chanyeol’s sitting in front of him— his tie a bit loose and the first button of his shirt open. He’s draped an arm on the back of Bae Joohyun’s chair, and she talks to him every now and then, but Chanyeol’s eyes tend to slide back to where Baekhyun is sitting, out of habit.

“It’s your first office  _ hoesik _ isn’t it?” Seokjin asks, helping Baekhyun take some noodles from the noodle soup and drop them in his plate.

“It is with JC, yes.”

“How’s your alcohol tolerance then? Team Leader Park Chanyeol here drinks a lot. He even drinks for Bae Joohyun noona, when the chief insists for her to drink,” Seokjin explains.

Baekhyun’s eyes hesitate on Joohyun a second more than necessary, then on Chanyeol, who’s just focused on something the chief is saying. “I can’t drink a lot. I get all red,” Baekhyun starts, chuckles. “Like very red. I’m quite useless when I drink, yeah.”

Chanyeol’s eyes go back to him until Baekhyun meets them. There’s something in his gaze that seems to be telling Baekhyun not to drink too much. And Baekhyun honestly wishes he had the authority of Bae Joohyun to say no, and have Chanyeol drink instead.

Baekhyun’s the intern, so if the others say drink, that’s what he has to do. 

There’s a few toasts, and Baekhyun’s head hurts already when everyone starts to laugh because of some of his colleagues. Baekhyun’s not sure of the reason, he’s lost the thread of their conversation a long time ago.

Someone pours him some more soju— it’s not Seokjin this time, but he’s too busy staring at the void to understand who it is. Alcohol tastes like water by now, and Baekhyun’s gesture to bring the cup to his lips is almost automatic. 

He can see Chanyeol staring at him, looking as sober as ever. Baekhyun even makes an effort to smile at him, maybe. Or that’s what he thinks he does. He just knows his cheeks must be on fire, because he feels suddenly very hot.

There’s a rush of pheromones when the chief and the oldest of Baekhyun’s colleagues start arguing about something. Baekhyun just covers his mouth at that, while other people complain louder, followed by laughter.

More alcohol— the coldness of the glass in his palm and the way soju scratches at the back of his throat.

 

The next thing he knows, Baekhyun’s hugging something warm and large. When he opens his eyes he realizes that he’s moving, but he’s not walking by himself. He’s being carried on someone’s shoulders.

“Park Chanyeol?” He slurs. 

“Yeah, how do you feel?”

“Like my head’s gonna explode.” He pauses, closes his eyes and rests his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder. It’s warm, comfortable. “Mhm…”

“What?”

“You didn’t have to carry me…” he murmurs.

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything, he just keeps walking after making sure Baekhyun’s not sliding down. Baekhyun’s only vaguely conscious when he realizes Chanyeol’s driving next to him, while Baekhyun’s all curled up on his passenger seat.  
  
  


When he wakes up again it’s morning, his head is killing him and he’s naked, or at least he thinks until he lifts the covers and he notices he’s wearing a very different type of pants to what he was wearing the day before. He’s also wearing a hoodie, the zip up type, but it’s open and way too big for him. 

Chanyeol’s still snoring next to him—  one arm draped over Baekhyun’s sternum and his face buried next to his ribcage. He stirs a little when he feels Baekhyun sit up. He snuggles against his hip, groaning displeased.

“D’you wake up?”

“Did we do...did we have sex?”

It takes a while for Chanyeol to reply, and he groans a lot more as Baekhyun asks him again. “Did we have sex?”

“We didn’t. Sleep s’more, Hyun-ah. It’s like 5am.”

He tries to pull Baekhyun under the covers. And it’s tempting, it really is. Chanyeol looks especially endearing when his hair’s even more messy than it usually is, in the morning and he’s wearing nothing but his pants, all snuggled up against Baekhyun’s torso. Warm, soft.

The room of what Baekhyun realizes is Chanyeol’s place is lit by the perfect amount of light for some extra sleep, the blanket’s a big, fluffy grey duvet. There’s a glass of water on the bedstand, Chanyeol even put Baekhyun’s phone to charge.

It’s so perfect that’s overwhelming. Baekhyun feels a wave of unexplainable anxiety wash over him. This is how it always starts, isn’t it? It’s perfect. Perfect, smooth skin, nice hair, morning cuddles and whispers under the covers. Until there’s nothing left except Baekhyun and a new crack in his heart.

“I have to go,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Chanyeol asks, slowly sitting up. He’s still half sleeping, his hair is all standing up on one side.

“I...I’m not sure why I’m here, in your bed. But I shouldn’t be so…” 

“Ah,” Chanyeol replies. He looks confused, and he probably wants to ask something more, but he just nods. “Alright,” he says. 

Baekhyun leaves a few minutes after. This time, he doesn't need to wonder what’s wrong with his heart and why it’s racing so fast. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M LATE I know çç I'm sorry.
> 
> So since people asked in the comments, I'm gonna write it down here in the notes so you all know. There's no concept of destined mate in this universe. People choose their mate and bond with them. If it doesn't work, the bond is breakable under certain circumstances.
> 
> This being said, enjoy this chapter too. Remember when I said this story wasn't angsty and it wouldn't hurt? well. That was a lie.

_ So let it go, let it fall, let it fly _ _   
_ _ And keep on trying _

 

Chanyeol’s everywhere. In the conference room, in the Head of the Division’s office, in the crowded elevator in the morning. It would make perfect sense, since Baekhyun and him work in the same office and they take the subway in the same directions when Chanyeol doesn’t come to work with his car. It would be something Baekhyun would consider normal, if it wasn’t that Baekhyun wants to meet everyone  _ but _ Chanyeol since last time at Chanyeol’s place, and seeing him everywhere is stressing him out.

Baekhyun doesn’t do relationships, not anymore at least. He can casually sleep with people, have fun. He can also use sex as his weapon to get something in return. It’s totally consensual and rational. That’s just something he knows it’s easy to do and most of the times it works to fix things quickly. He needs a particular favor? Sex can buy it, so he does it. It doesn’t do it that often, but when it happens it happens. Just like it did with Park Chanyeol.

He thought doing it with Chanyeol would work as it always does: a little bit of fun under the sheets and he gets what he wants. He has the alphas wrapped around his pretty fingers this way, and they get what they want from him. It’s always a win win situation. 

Except that it’s not, at least not in Chanyeol’s case.

Baekhyun doesn’t do relationships, not anymore, but he can’t get his mind off the way Chanyeol was just hugging him in the morning, the other day— just a little tight to keep him close, but not enough to force him there. And his expression— like that of a lost puppy, when he asked Baekhyun to stay. All of these things should make him smile when nobody’s looking, should make him feel warm inside. However all he wants to do is run away as fast as possible, run away from Chanyeol, from that twitchy smile of his and his stupid hoodies.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, seems like he’s spacing out, at least the first couple of days after the  _ hoesik _ . Baekhyun can’t quite understand what’s going on, but Chanyeol lingers around him in silence longer than usual, as if hesitating. He always looks on the verge of saying something, only to swallow it back and keep it in.

“He looks like a teenager on a first date, I swear to God,” it’s what Sehun says, the first time Baekhyun meets him again in a convenience store near his house.  It’s dark outside and it looks like it could rain, but people still crowd the street around Baekhyun’s apartment. 

“What have you done to him, huh?”

Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say at first. He didn’t expect Oh Sehun to be so blunt and direct to someone he barely knows. But then, again, Sehun approached him in a convenience store in the middle of the night. He’s wearing a white and blue fuzzy pajama, a hoodie, and he’s walking his white dog. He’s probably the kind of person to approach almost strangers to talk about his alpha friend’s problems.

“I didn’t do anything to him.” Baekhyun shrugs, moving his things next to Sehun’s ice-cream and beer on the counter. “Are you even legal to drink?”

“I’m legal. And you’re lying,” Sehun shoots back without even looking at him. His dog sniffs at something on the shelf behind them, then tries to pull at the leash, towards the exit of the store. Baekhyun just looks as Sehun lazily follows the dog outside and sits down on one of the plastic tables near the ice cream freezers. He pats the table a couple times, as if gesturing for Baekhyun to come over.

“Have you slept with him?” 

Sehun has this way of asking things as if he doesn’t care, but he expects an answer. Baekhyun figures he doesn’t like it much, but it’s no like he can tell his Team Leader’s friend to fuck off, so he keeps it in. “So what if I have? You have too.”

Omegas in heat don’t go look for alphas for no reasons, Baekhyun knows that much. 

Sehun raises an eyebrow, stares at Baekhyun way longer than necessary and lets his dog jump on his lap to steal some of his ice cream— Baekhyun still wonders how this guy’s eating ice cream and is wearing slippers when it’s so cold and Baekhyun himself is barded in a giant padded coat.

“I don’t sleep with Chanyeol hyung, I never have.” Sehun finally notes, only quickly glancing at Baekhyun, his cheek cradled on his palm as he sits with his elbow on the armrest of the plastic chair. 

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow because he doesn’t understand. The scarf inside Chanyeol’s car, the fact that Sehun especially came to look for Chanyeol, it all added up so perfectly. 

“I have a boyfriend, why would I sleep with Chanyeol hyung? I’m mated, with someone else.” He stops for enough time to evaluate Baekhyun’s reaction, then he continues. “Boyfriend’s just busy sometimes, so I go look for Chanyeol hyung when I’m in heat and boyfriend’s not around, since I don’t want to go to the hospital by myself.”

Baekhyun nods, his eyes on the bag of strawberry jellies he came out to buy. He hasn’t opened it yet and his hands are too freezing to attempt to.

“The question stays, have you slept with him?”

Baekhyun waits a moment, his eyes going from the jellies to the street where a couple of cars pass by. He nods. “Myeah.”

Sehun doesn’t say anything, he keeps waiting.

“But it meant nothing.”

“Says you."

“No, for real. And he perfectly knows it was a deal. Fair and square deal.”

Sehun snorts, caressing his dog with the hand that’s not holding the ice cream. Baekhyun opens the beer can for him and Sehun takes a sip. “Chanyeol hyung doesn’t have sex with people for deals. He’s one of those guys who want to have a family and shit.”

It’s Baekhyun’s turn to chuckle, because the picture Sehun’s giving him would fit Chanyeol very well— his laughter feels a little hollow, though he can’t explain why. 

“That has nothing to do with me, trust me.”

“No,  _ you _ trust me. He has feelings for you.” Sehun looks serious now, leaning in into the table, with his perfect eyebrows furrowed. 

Baekhyun laughs at him, steals a sip of his beer. “Buuuullshit. He’s a responsible adult, he knows where he stands.”

“What about you, then? Do you have feelings for him?”

It’s a tricky question, because it’s not one Baekhyun wants to answer. He  _ is _ feeling something, and he’s trying hard to convince himself that he’s not; that it’s the pheromones triggering fake feelings for him. That’s what attraction is after all. And yet…

“Just get your shit together, Byun Baekhyun ssi.”

  
  


Baekhyun tries. He would try harder to get his shit together and finally get rid of whatever he is he has with Park Chanyeol, but avoiding Chanyeol is not only hard, but it also risky, since Chanyeol’s Baekhyun’s Team Leader, whether Baekhyun likes it or not. So he just accepts the coffee when Chanyeol leaves one on his desk, and he can’t but follow him around, when Chanyeol has tasks for him.

What is pretty obvious, however, is that he’s trying to keep their spaces and conversations strictly work related, and it seems to be frustrating and confusing Chanyeol way more than Baekhyun expected.

He’s never seen Chanyeol openly snap at someone, but after Baekhyun avoids speaking to him for the fifth time this morning, he’s in a very bad mood for the following meeting with a client— he harshly scolds a couple betas from another division and even trashes the work his favorite guy from his division brings him.

Baekhyun just  _ knows _ Chanyeol’s mood must have to do with him. He knows, but he can’t allow himself to get even more tangled into this weird relation they have. He can’t allow himself to believe he’s feeling something, and he can’t allow Chanyeol closer than he already is.

 

He ends up having lunch in the same archive room that Chanyeol had made him clean, back when Baekhyun was in heat and he didn’t know about the alpha’s ethics about omegas. The room is clean now, quiet. Baekhyun munches on his kimbap roll, eyeing the door from time to time.

Jongdae’s sending him annoyed emojis.  _ You can’t avoid your boss, you work for him _ , he says.  _ I’m gonna crash at your apartment this weekend, so you better fix whatever this is. _

Baekhyun snorts.  _ Fucker _ , he sends back.

Jongdae replies with a few outraged emojis. 

That’s when the door clicks open and Baekhyun realizes Jongdae was right after all. He can’t avoid his boss. 

Chanyeol still looks upset, and his hair’s messier than usual. “Are you having lunch here?” he asks, as if it wasn’t obvious enough from the open aluminum foil Baekhyun is balancing on his thighs and the kimbap roll in it.

“Yes.”

“Can I join?”

“You work here, you can do whatever you want.”

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything for a while. He doesn’t have anything to eat aside from a small Capri Sun box. “Why have you been avoiding me? You are avoiding me, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun snorts, then nods looking at the shelves full of carton boxes and papers. “I am, I’m sorry.”

Chanyeol walks up to him— Baekhyun has to tilt his head back to look at him properly, since he’s sitting down and Chanyeol isn’t.

“It’s funny that you’re so blatant about it. You have an awful personality, you know?”

“My best friend says I’m an asshole,” Baekhyun replies with a vein of irony in his tone. What’s funny is that they’re here, talking about it. That Baekhyun is terrified all over again, and he would gladly leave but he doubts Chanyeol would let him at this point so he’s just here, joking with him.

Chanyeol cards a hand through his hair, steps back and sighs. “He wouldn’t be wrong,” he comments after a while. Baekhyun was right, he sounds exhausted and upset. “What are you running from, exactly? Have I done something wrong? I don’t understand.”

Of course he wouldn’t understand. Chanyeol is an alpha. A nice one, but still an alpha. Of course he would have no idea. It makes Baekhyun mad at Chanyeol, mad at himself. He’s just mad, and he’s not even sure what he’s mad about, who is he mad at.

“Is it more sex, that you want? Mh?” He blurts out lightly, without thinking about it. Sex always solves everything. Maybe if he had sex with Chanyeol again things would finally put themselves back together. “I don’t mind sucking you here and now, is that what you want?”

Chanyeol shakes his head once, twice. He makes a mess of his own hair again, loosens his tie and and walks away until he’s grasping one of the shelves with both his hands, his head hung low, giving his back to Baekhyun. “Why do you think I want that, now? I thought we were over this bullshit, Hyun.”

“Isn’t that what you all-”

“And stop it with this  _ all you alphas just want sex _ talk, Byun Baekhyun!” Chanyeol raises his voice, turning around. “I don’t want sex. I never wanted to bully you, nor  _ use _ you. My best friend, he was bullied through middle school all the way through university. People thought of him as a sex toy, and I found that so disgusting that I wondered if I shouldn’t just hate on all alphas on earth, since we’re all scum.” He pauses. “I’m trying my best  _ not _ to be like other alphas so no, Hyun, I don’t want sex from you.”

Baekhyun can feel his heartbeat into his own ears— loud, constant. “What is it that you want then, huh? Love?” He asks, knowing perfectly well that he’s crossing a line here and that he’s gonna hurt Chanyeol if he keeps going. He can see it in Chanyeol’s eyes, when he turns his head to look at him. He can see that he just asked something he shouldn’t have asked.

“What if that’s what I want? What’s wrong with that?” Chanyeol asks, way calmer than Baekhyun expects him to be. It’s annoying. Chanyeol’s supposed to yell at him, instead he just sounds sad. Baekhyun doesn’t have an answer to his question, so he keeps silent, his eyes still fixed on the alpha. 

Then Chanyeol asks something more, and Baekhyun doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “Did you ever want to mate with someone?”

Baekhyun has a reply to that, and it’s long, articulated. A few, scattered memories flash in the back of his mind— someone’s lips brushing against the back of his neck. “And who is gonna mate with me? You are?” There’s no bite in his voice. He just sounds dejected at this point.

The alpha doesn’t say anything. His gaze lingers on Baekhyun with this miserable hue to it that anyone would be able to interpret. Baekhyun is not an idiot, and Chanyeol wears his heart on his sleeve. He lets every thought and every feeling seep through, just like he’s doing now. 

“Shit…” is all he can manage to say, as Chanyeol finally averts his gaze. “Sehun was right, isn’t it? You-” 

“I have feelings for you.”

“But it doesn’t make sense.” Baekhyun protests, standing up and walking up to Chanyeol, only to grab the fabric of his shirt. “Don’t you remember, what happened back in school? You can’t have feelings for me you...you should be hating me.” 

Chanyeol furrows his brows, then he shakes his head again, baffled at Baekhyun’s word. “What does that have to do with my feelings for you?” 

However Baekhyun doesn’t listen to him. He doesn’t want to, because acknowledging Chanyeol’s feelings is as easy as it’s scary. “You know perfectly well it’s the pheromones, Yeol. Otherwise you’d hate me guts, like anyone with a brain would after what happened to you because of me.”

There’s a long silence after what Baekhyun says. He doesn’t have the courage to look at Chanyeol, at first, but he does at some point— Chanyeol’s starting at him already, looking between angry and in disbelief. 

“I can’t believe you’re telling me all of this with that face, Byunbaek,” he comments, lowering his head and stepping away, towards the entrance. “I don’t care what you say to me, or what you think of me. But please, don’t go decide who is gonna hate you or love you.” 

“And treasure yourself a bit more.”

Baekhyun’s left in the room to himself and his jumble of thoughts. So he sits down, takes his head between his hands and closes his eyes, trying to tune the world out.

  
  
  


Things keep going as if the talk in the archive room never happened. Chanyeol seems to have taken a certain distance to him, but he’s still present when needed and he doesn’t hesitate to call Baekhyun, if there’s tasks for him. It’s gone from a professional relationship with a spark of something more, to a purely professional one. 

It’s exactly what Baekhyun wanted, in the end. He tells himself that it would be selfish to regret the way things went, so he doesn’t complain, and he makes sure not to be in the way too much.

Jongdae say’s he’s an idiot, and Sehun even sends him a couple of annoyed texts saying that Chanyeol’s not talking to him. Baekhyun ignores both of them— he has no time for Sehun’s problems with Chanyeol, and Jongdae… well, Jongdae’s always trying his best to help, but Baekhyun doesn’t want help, not this time at least.

Everything is perfect.

Per-fect.

Until he walks into the office on monday morning and he feels his heart tumble all the way up to his throat when he recognizes the silhouette of someone he would’ve never thought he’d see again. He would recognize that profile and those shoulders anywhere.

The man’s talking to Chanyeol and the Team Leader of another division— he’s gesturing a lot, he’s always had that habit. He’s cut his hair shorter, dyed it blonde. Chanyeol’s smiling at him with the smile he reserves for meetings and important clients— professional, cordial. The Team Leader of the other division bows and slowly walks out of the room, as Baekhyun tries to sneak away as quickly as possible.

Maybe he could spend today in the archive room, like he did that day, when Chanyeol asked him to. Or maybe he could pretend he’s sick, and not show up for work at all.

However Chanyeol notices him, and Baekhyun freezes on the spot as the man turns around. Chanyeol points at Baekhyun and introduces him, judging from hs lips pronouncing Baekhyun’s name.

“Shit”, Baekhyun mutters looking around, and realizing he can’t escape at this point. His heart’s drumming so loud in his chest he’s afraid Chanyeol and the other guy could hear it if they came close enough. 

“Baekhyun ssi, this is mr Zhang Yixing. He came from our China branch to help with the new upcoming project.” Chanyeol’s smiling, until he notices how rigid and pale Baekhyun has gone all of a sudden. Baekhyun can clearly see the shift in his expression, from gentle and professional to wary, almost upset.

“It’s been a while, Baekhyun-ssi.” Yixing greets with a short bow and a calibrated smile. Baekhyun knows that smile, he’s seen it thousands of times. A long time ago it would’ve reassured him, but now...now it’s just terrifying.

“Do you two know each other?”

Chanyeol looks concerned, for someone who knows him well enough. He’d probably look the same to Yixing, if Chanyeol’s scent weren’t different all of a sudden. Baekhyun’s accustomed to a certain smell to him, and he can detect the imperceptible shift in his mood as soon as his pheromones change too. It’s probably not intentional, but it’s pretty clear Chanyeol’s subconsciously trying to assert a certain dominance.

Yixing doesn’t seem to be bothered, though Baekhyun’s pretty sure he’s probably noticed the change in the air. 

“Yes, we’ve worked for the same company, a couple years ago. Baekhyun was a valuable element to our team, but he decided to leave us.”

Baekhyun almost snorts. It’s not exactly how it went, but Yixing always liked to twist reality through words. Baekhyun’s not surprised to hear him change the story to what seems more agreeable. Baekhyun just smiles and nods. “Indeed,” he says, meeting eyes with Zhang Yixing just for a moment.

Chanyeol keeps eyeing the both of them cautiously, but he looks like he’s not able to make a decision about what to make of Yixing.  “I see,” he says, before breaking in a very forced smile, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. 

“I guess that will be helpful, since Baekhyun’s an intern in our team. I can’t wait to work with you, mr Zhang.”

His eyes linger on Baekhyun a tad longer, even when Baekhyun’s sitting at his desk and Zhang Yixing has left to meet the Head of the Division. Rather than what Baekhyun expects him to look like — angry and pissed off at him, Chanyeol just looks worried. He doesn’t come closer, though, not until he actually has to bring some papers to Baekhyun’s desk.

“Do we like him or do we not like him?” He asks in a murmur, standing behind Baekhyun’s chair, his hand of the backrest.

“He’s just a former colleague, it’s alright,” Baekhyun mutters back, but he’s somewhat glad Chanyeol asked. And he’s so grateful when Chanyeol makes sure that Baekhyun’s not standing next to Yixing, during the last meeting of the day. 

 

_ Do you know why he’s there, of all places? _ Jongdae texts, as Baekhyun enters the elevator to finally leave to go home last— Chanyeol asked him for extra help last minute, and being an intern he can’t exactly refuse.

Baekhyun quickly texts back something along the lines of  _ I have no idea, but shit if I’m unlucky, _ and he’s just about to put his phone in the pocket of his jacket when the doors jingle open and Zhang Yixing walks in looking exactly like he did a couple years earlier. Just a little older, and a little sharper at the edges. He looks like life hasn’t been the kindest to him.

“Hey, Baekhyun. How’ve you been?” 

“The usual.” Baekhyun turns around and sticks a smile on his face, even though that’s the last thing he wants to do. He wants the elevator to go faster, so he can leave and forget about Yixing. “I thought I had finally found a job with no shitty alphas, but hey, I spoke too soon.”

Yixing chortles cheerfully, closing the distance between the two of them until there’s less then a couple steps between the two— if Baekhyun moved a little, he would bump into Yixing. He smells like alpha, and he’s doing that on purpose. Baekhyun wonders if it’s some sort of indirect revenge for what had happened with Chanyeol in the morning.

“What about the other alpha? Your team leader is an alpha too.”

Baekhyun looks ahead, as the elevator signals they’re reaching the third floor. “He’s alright. He’s not shitty.”  _ He’s not you _ .

“You mean he doesn’t sleep with you?”

Baekhyun snorts, shakes his head. Then cranes it back to throw a glance to the other. Yixing smiles back at him, all dimples and sunshine. 

“I don’t think that concerns you, now.”

Yixing hums in only vague agreement. He gets even closer and leans in until his nose almost touches Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun clenches his fists but forces himself not to move while the button signaling the second floor lights up. 

“What have you done to your scent?” There’s something off in Yixing’s voice, like he’s letting out more than he would usually want to. 

“Mh?”

“You smell different, I can’t exactly say  _ what _ ’s different but it’s there. What have you done?” 

Baekhyun pulls up his wrist closer to his nose, sniffs at it but he doesn’t notice anything past his usual smell, and the scent of laundry detergent he uses. “Your nose must’ve gone bad, Zhang Yixing. All that time in China didn’t do any good,” he shoots back with a tinge of sarcasm.

Yixing doesn’t say anything, but there’s suddenly something closed up and rigid in his expression. It’s there for a second, then it’s gone, and he’s back to his usual charming smile, dimple included. He raises his arm, enough to hook his index finger to the back of Baekhyun’s shirt collar and he pulls at it, just slightly— just enough to uncover Baekhyun’s nape at first, then the crook between his neck and shoulder, before Baekhyun sighs in annoyance and cups it with his hand. 

“What the hell Zhang Yixing?”

“I thought you’d be marked by now, you know? Told you your scent is different.” Yixing moves two steps back, but he doesn’t stray too far. Baekhyun feel goosebumps prickle where Yixing’s finger has touched his skin briefly, he needs the elevator to go faster. They’re almost there.

“Just so you know, I’m still available. I’m not going anywhere this time,” Yixing prompts, and if Baekhyun was anyone else, if he didn’t know Zhang Yixing from before he’d probably fall for it. Yixing’s charming, he’s handsome, he has his way with people.

However Baekhyun knows him, and what he just said makes Baekhyun want to punch him in the face. He can’t do that with the person who’s supposed to help the company for the upcoming project, so he just laughs out loud. Bitter. He even grabs Yixing’s arm and pats it a couple times while laughing a bit more.

“I didn’t remember you were so funny, Yixing. You? Available?” Baekhyun meets his eyes, stares at him a little longer. “Do I have to remind you that  _ you _ were the one who didn’t want it, last time?”

He doesn’t give Yixing the time to reply. The elevator doors open and Baekhyun shoots the best, amused smile he can muster. “See you around, Yixing. Let’s have fun working together.” 


End file.
